I just installed redhat 8.0 i have no idea how to work this OS.
i have worked before with unix sco.
The question is i just install a backup tape.
how can i view the content on a tape.
what i;m trying to do is tar cv8 or tar xvf perform this actions on a redhat 8.0
Thanks.
I hope that someone you knows the linux tar will jump in with a more detailed answer for you. Until then, be careful here.
tar xvf device
means extract the contents of the tape on to the disk.
tar cvf device
means create an archive. This will scribble on your tape.
tar tvf device
means show contents of tape.
I have never seen the combo "cv8", but then I don't know linux.
Don't forget you can always do a man on tar. the man's can sometime help a heap 
Thanks a lot guys that give me an idea.
Thanks Jose
Interesting - I see an option in my tar man page for -[1-7], but not 8. Also, it's doesn't explain it at all...
I'm wondering if it's passed to (gzip|bzip2|...) for compression options...